im pretty bored right now and i am waiting for my rims to come in so i was wondering if anyone could post anything they did to their x for free.....pics too if possible thanks for quenching my boredom

A good detailing can cure many hours of boredom. Chrome need polishing? Wiper blades need repainting? Those "cement" bugs need scraping off the grill? Carpet need shampooing? Moisture in the headlights? Paint as shiny as you would like it to be?

Actually I'm just listing stuff I SHOULD be doing right now instead of being on computer!

You don't want to put new rims on a dirty looking truck!

well, i removed my emblems for free :) actually, i had to pay about $2 for the fishing line and a $1 for the mineral spirits, but thats close enough to free ;) you could also remove the side door moldings for pretty close to nothing. hartman started a thread on it, and i plan on doing it in a couple weeks.

paint the color of your emblems for free, if you have paint already http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44770 and or make custom guage faces for the price of a peice of paper. http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44710&highlight=guages

yeah, the biggest thing to do is remove the side moldings. here's a pic, mine are kind of obscured by the graphics (my paint is kind of screwed up around them from being repainted my maaco so i had to cover it with the graphic) but it should give you an idea. imo it makes a huge diffference in appearance. other than that just clean it real good

For $0.40 I replaced the air silencer to the airbox with 6" of 4" dryer hose. Of course, it will cost a little more if you don't already have silicone sealant and even more if you don't already have a Dremel.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29047

thanks guys all great ideas especially the detailing LOL i dont have side moldings on my sport so there goes that idea but expo i love your truck with the moldings off and tarheel thanks for the link i was just about to order black emblems in about a week or so but hopefully soon ill have the time to paint my own. but i have a question abou that what kind of paint should i use model? jjue what did that do for you by reomoving the air silencer? ive heard it makes a nice sound but could actually decrease HP just what i heard though thanks again and keep the ideas flowing

sorry about that one, i should have paid more attention. but i have a great mod for you. you know that annoying ding ding sound that goes off whenever your car is running and your seat belts not on, regardless of whether you are loading the car, warming it up in the winter etc. (i hope your truck actually does this, or else i will be double wrong i'm assuming it does because our escape and my grandparents 2000 windstar and newer rangers all do)
well you can stop it by stuffing the speaker with cotton or something and then it can be removed later if you want to sell the truck or something

no you are right my truck does have the seatbelt bell but it only goes off when in drive ( i think) because ive never heard it otherwise and whenever i drive i wear my belt. where is the speaker for that though?

I fixed the slack in my throttle cable so it will now go to full WOT.

Originally posted by 2k1exsport
jjue what did that do for you by reomoving the air silencer? ive heard it makes a nice sound but could actually decrease HP just what i heard though thanks again and keep the ideas flowing

I'm not sure if it hurt horsepower. By my timeslips from last night, it seems to have a little more horsepower, but it was fighting higher humidity, 20-degrees F more temperature (was 69 not 49 F), and a Mountaineer that had 50 more lbs. of stuff installed and is 1/2" taller. I couldn't match my 16.496 @ 81.25 from October 2000, but it ran a consistent 16.59 at 80.0. I can tell that my 60' and my 330' are much stronger due to the added low end torque by the engine being able to breathe. I also noticed that my fuel economy driving between school and home increased from a best of 19 mpg to 22 mpg. I also noticed that passing is a lot easier before and after the slight lift, so it did nothing bad to HP. you must remember that this is an old Mustang trick & I'm still getting cold air and not hot engine air.

i don't actually know on the explorer, but on the escape it was behind the center console in the dash. so its likely its the same in yours

The best "free" mod that I did was cutting my factory airbox. I only cut the front where the factory silencer was pulling in air. I noticed more power than with my old FIPK, which only sucked in hot engine bay air.

Expo5.0, is any work to get to the speaker, or is it one of those free, easy mods? If it's free and easy, I think I might go for it. If it involves any real work, I think I'll just put up with the dinging.

Also, Jason, how do you "fix" the throttle? My friend did it to his Mustang, and after seeing his results I'm definitely interested in doing it.

Thanks guys!

it was definitely a bit of work on the escape. but since it went off whenever that car was running and you didn't have seat belt on it was well worth it. since, you couldn't warm it up in the winter, or load it with stuff while it was runnin' unless this is the case with yours you may as well leave it.

here's some free mods for ya... :D

http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47668

Originally posted by expo5.0
it was definitely a bit of work on the escape. but since it went off whenever that car was running and you didn't have seat belt on it was well worth it. since, you couldn't warm it up in the winter, or load it with stuff while it was runnin' unless this is the case with yours you may as well leave it.

Alright, then I'll just leave it. The dinging is annoying when the Ex is just left running, but I guess I can live with it. Thanks

i did the throttle cable on my 5 liter and noticed a BIG difference. i dont know if they stretch over time, or if ford made 'em that way. to find out if you can do it to yours, here's what you do. take the intake tubing off the throttle body. have a friend hold the gas pedal to the floor (with the engine OFF:D ) if the butterfly doesnt open all the way, then you're not gettin wide open throttle. look under the dash, were the cable comes in through the firewall. it ties on to the top of the gas pedal plate. pull the slack out of it and tie it off with a zip tie. thats it. its that easy. you actually wrap the zip tie around the cable and use it as a "spacer".

Hot damn. I knew it was easy, but I didn't know it was just that plain simple. Thanks!

BTW, you had a 5 liter. Think it'll be such a noticable difference on a 4 liter too?

i dunno. like i said, i dont know if they're made that way or some of them just stretch over time. i do know that on mine it made a HUGE difference.

my cheap intake:D :D

throttle cable mod really works. and it should work on the 4.0 too, 'cause almost everyone on the rangerpowersports board has done it as well.

2k1exsport,
It seems you have turned a little boredom into weeks of projects.
Good Luck!

hey mike was that hard, doesnt matter if its cheap , it works, what did you have to do
looks simple Thanks, nice truck, looks like mine sorta but dif color

well after wasting one filter trying to drill 4 holes I just offset the maf so that I could easily drill 2 holes on one side, with two lock washers and small bolts and some rtv I tightened the crap out of the two and sealed the other side, it isnot going anywhere and cost me $20 for the filter.:confused: :confused: :confused:

hey drew- glad the throttle fix worked for ya. as i said before, the only other X's i did this to are the two 5.0's that i work with. i was beginning to wonder if it was this humid east texas/southwest arkansas climate that was making them stretch or something...:p

i drilled seven 2" holes in the airbox
http://www.alpharubicon.com/~fixer/images/KNcheese.jpg

and removed the chin spoiler/airdam thingie for better clearance
http://www.alpharubicon.com/~fixer/images/hella500s.jpg

Maybe someone can help me out with something. WHen it gets warm out ANd whenever I start my X it makes a LOUD moaning noise coming from under the hood. Does anyone know what this is or how I can fix it. Doesn't really matter if its cheap or not but really starting to annoy me.

Thanks

For the seatbelt dinging look in your owners manual. It tells you how to turn it off. Lots of buckling belts then unbuckle sequences. It takes a few minutes but shuts it off. Or you could just wear your seatbelt.

Originally posted by fixer
and removed the chin spoiler/airdam thingie for better clearance
http://www.alpharubicon.com/~fixer/images/hella500s.jpg

I want to do that, I think it looks cool.

Originally posted by FX4x4
For the seatbelt dinging look in your owners manual. It tells you how to turn it off. Lots of buckling belts then unbuckle sequences. It takes a few minutes but shuts it off.

Cool, thanks. And I thought that manual wasn't good for anything!

I have read alot of post's about cutting holes in the airbox because of some kind of silencer or something...Is this something I can do on my 2002 X? and where?

your right morrisey0, my boredom is slowly becoming non-existant. this past weeks project was replacing all bulbs with 194 hyperwhite and putting in silverstars. next are the black badges and then drilled airbox if i find out proper way to do it.

Originally posted by Rscotts1
I have read alot of post's about cutting holes in the airbox because of some kind of silencer or something...Is this something I can do on my 2002 X? and where?

Cutting the airbox is very easy. On mine, the stock airbox pulls air through the front of the airbox right behind the headlight. The small tube like opening that the air enters the airbox is what we call the "silencer". The factory uses them to silence the intake noise. This also restricts airflow. Look on your airbox to find where the air enters the airbox. Then simply enlarge that opening. This can be done by drilling some holes or you can use a Dremel to cut a big square out of the airbox. I have a Dremel so thats the method I used. I noticed a power increase over my K&N FIPK. More power and best of all, its a free mod.

what can i do to my 92 airbox?

Originally posted by Adam Foote
what can i do to my 92 airbox?

Read my above post. Enlarge the stock air inlet hole. ;)

Thanks RTSork, I'll give it a shot.

Originally posted by diablo5969
Expo5.0, is any work to get to the speaker, or is it one of those free, easy mods? If it's free and easy, I think I might go for it. If it involves any real work, I think I'll just put up with the dinging.




On your vehicle, the box is directly below the cigarette lighter tray. There is a black box about 3x3 inches wide with a connector going into it. This is the actual buzzer.If you unplug it, no more seatbelt or key in ignition noise.

Believe it or not, I know this from RECONNECTING them on my families ex-police vehicles. The Police disconnected that box on two of our Explorers, but since it warns you when there is a key in the ignition with the door open, or when the lights are left on, I hooked them up again. :)

yo crank do you put the canadian flag on every post you make, for a reason? Because I dont know if your motive is to piss us off but really man you dont see all of us throwing up the american flag everytime we make a post. This is not meant to cause trouble its just a simple question. Looks like it would fit perfectly in (maybe it will save you from clicking on it everytime you post)
***Explorer Family***
1992 Xl Mine
1992 Xl Sisters
1992 Xl Dads
1994 Xl Moms
(RIGHT ABOUT HERE)

Originally posted by Crankcase
On your vehicle, the box is directly below the cigarette lighter tray. There is a black box about 3x3 inches wide with a connector going into it. This is the actual buzzer.If you unplug it, no more seatbelt or key in ignition noise.

Believe it or not, I know this from RECONNECTING them on my families ex-police vehicles. The Police disconnected that box on two of our Explorers, but since it warns you when there is a key in the ignition with the door open, or when the lights are left on, I hooked them up again. :)

It's that easy? Cool. But actually, I didn't even think of the fact that it beeps when the lights are on. I might unplug it for like a week just to try it. Thanks for the tip

Originally posted by Brian8
Maybe someone can help me out with something. WHen it gets warm out ANd whenever I start my X it makes a LOUD moaning noise coming from under the hood. Does anyone know what this is or how I can fix it. Doesn't really matter if its cheap or not but really starting to annoy me.

Thanks

It's your Idle Air Control Valve...or IAC. I need to replace mine too.

Thanks SSIKORA..

Back to the air silencer...when I was underneath my X , installing tow hooks yesterday,I noticed that the air intake had a rectangle piece of plastic in front of it.Is this what your talking about removing? I thought this was some type of debris guard,but didn't see where anything could fly into it.I was wondering if it could be removed......Let me know if this is it ! I need something to do!

Tim

:p jarrett, where did you happen to install the towhooks? Can you take a pic? I was about to install some too to the frame in the front and was curious as to where you are putting them.

I installed them on the frame.On my 94, there is a slot on each member I used for the front holes. I had to drill the rear holes(right on the bend of the frame). The hooks I used were from a 92 F-250. Once I drilled the holes,I slipped the bolts into the slots and then patiently fit the washers on and brought the bolt back down through.(had to play with it, don't get discouraged, it can be done!).I put the nuts on from the bottom. I managed to get the closed end of a 3/4" wrench into one of the slots in the frame to hold the bolt while I tightened it.This worked for the front bolt.The rear bolt I had to come from behind and overtop the cross member to get hold of the back bolt. It took patience, but it beat the heck out of taking the bumper off !! Also I took a Rotozip to the airdam to make access holes. I had a solid airdam. Sorry, I don't have a camera....yet! I hope this helps you.

Tim

yah thanks dude

hey jarrett i dont knwo what that piece is or what it is there for but i removed it and it didnt cause anything to happen. i removed it because it was only getting air from the passenger side somehow and so i took it off so it would get the air coming through the left side of the grill.

Originally posted by expo5.0
yeah, the biggest thing to do is remove the side moldings. here's a pic, mine are kind of obscured by the graphics (my paint is kind of screwed up around them from being repainted my maaco so i had to cover it with the graphic) but it should give you an idea. imo it makes a huge diffference in appearance. other than that just clean it real good

Where did you get that front airdam? That looks really cool...:cool: